Benchmarks continue to trade marginally in green

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade marginally in green amid buying witnessed in oil and gas, power and consumer durables stocks. However, market gains remained capped as investors opted to remain on sidelines ahead of crucial macroeconomic data such as April-November fiscal deficit reading scheduled to be announced later in the day. Sentiments also remained cautious on Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan’s statement that high inflation is limiting the central bank’s ability to boost growth. Further, Bankex was only indices trading lower on BSE as the RBI has stated that risks to the banking sector have increased during the past six months due to rising bad loans. On stock specific movements, Tata Motors, RIL and Bajaj Auto were trading up by over 0.80%, while, BHEL, HDFC Bank and Infosys were trading down by over 0.20%.

Among other stocks, Jain Irrigation Systems was trading higher by 3% at around Rs 73 after the company said it has bagged one of the country’s largest irrigation projects worth Rs 386 crore in Karnataka. Piramal Enterprises was trading higher by 5% at nearly Rs 582 after the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approved Vodafone's proposal to buy out minority shareholders.

On global front, Asian markets were trading in green with Jakarta Composite up by 1.45%, and Nikkei 225 up by 0.69%. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading up their psychological 6,300 and 21,000 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive, out of 2,167 stocks traded, 1,243 stocks advanced, while 784 stocks declined on the BSE.  

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 21,186.25 up by 43.24 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 21,230.88 and 21,122.68. There were 20 stocks advancing against only 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.59%, while Small cap index up by 0.45%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil and Gas up by 0.67%, Power up by 0.66%, Consumer Durables up by 0.47%, Auto up by 0.42% and Healthcare up by 0.34%.  While, Bankex down by marginally 0.03%.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 2.98%, RIL up by 1.01%, Bajaj Auto up by 0.88%, TCS up by 0.76% and Tata Motors up by 0.63%. On the flip side, BHEL down by 1.06%, HDFC Bank down by 0.69%, Infosys down by 0.28%, SBI down by 0.19% and Tata Steel down by 0.19%.

Meanwhile, concerned over the deteriorating macro-economic indicators of the economy, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has stated that high inflation is limiting the central bank’s ability to boost growth. Rising inflation has become a hurdle for Indian economic growth as it has been eroding consumers and business confidence in the country. Meanwhile, in order to restrain rising inflation, the RBI has been raising the policy rates over the past few months.

The governor has said that high inflation leading to fall in domestic savings and relatively high fiscal deficit are key concerns for the Indian economy and has urged the government to continue with fiscal consolidation to support the economy. Further, general elections due by May is creating uncertainty among the investors, while a stable new government would be positive for the economy, he added. The central bank is likely to resume tightening monetary policy by early next year on account of high inflation even as the economy is growing below the decade low of 5 percent in the current fiscal.

Meanwhile, the RBI has noted that Indian economy is expected to witness modest improvement in growth on the back of good monsoon which has boosted the prospects of summer crops and higher exports. The central bank has expressed the need for long-delayed legislative reforms, stalled infrastructure project clearances and fiscal consolidation to maintain the momentum of economic recovery.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 6,306.60 down by 15.50 points or 0.25% after trading in a range of 6,317.30 and 6,287.30. There were 39 stocks advancing against 11 declining on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Tata Power up by 2.93%, IDFC up by 2.38%, NMDC up by 1.19%, BPCL up by 1.16% and ACC up by 0.94%. On the flip side, BHEL down by 1.03%, HDFC Bank down by 0.64%, Kotak Bank down by 0.59%, Tata Steel down by 0.33% and SBI down by 0.33% were the major losers on the index.

The Asian equity indices were trading in green; Jakarta Composite up by 1.45%, Nikkei 225 up by 0.69%, and Shanghai Composite up by 0.76%. While, KLSE Composite down by 0.42% and Taiwan Weighted down by 0.14%.